Presidency will now be answerable to dedicated Parly oversight committee

For the first time since the establishment of a democratic Parliament, the Presidency will now be answerable to a dedicated oversight committee.

On Tuesday, the National Assembly adopted new rules that will pave the way for the establishment of the committee to which the president, deputy president and the director general will be required to answer to questions of budget and policy.

It’s a battle opposition parties have been fighting since the previous Parliament but which, at the time, did not find immediate favour with the African National Congress (ANC).

The Presidency has, until now, been the only State department that does not account directly to Parliament.

The ANC had in the past argued that it does so through other committees and quarterly question time to the head of State and his deputy.

The Zondo Commission of Inquiry into State Capture recommended a Presidency oversight committee and the matter was put back on the table by the Democratic Alliance (DA) just more than a year ago.

It’s now been proposed that the director general n the Presidency appear before a Presidency committee to explain matters related to the budget.

The president and deputy president, meanwhile, would appear at least once a year to answer to questions of policy or matters of national or international interest.

The DA’s chief whip, George Michalakis, said these developments will lead to a more robust and effective Parliament.

“The committee on the Presidency will add a layer of accountability that the Zondo Commission recommended and that will hopefully go a long way in the future to protect our democratic institutions against state capture and corruption.”

The oversight committee will comprise 11 members - four from the ANC, two from the DA, one each from the uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) Party and the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), and three members from other parties.

The house has also agreed to make amendments to its ministerial question time by reintroducing interpellations - a snap debate of 15 minutes on a topical matter.

Interpellations had been a feature of the house until it was dropped in 2000.

Question time will now also be extended to allow the member of Parliament (MP) who posed the original question to a minister to ask both the first and final supplementary question to the responses given.

MK PARTY REJECTS COMPOSITION OF PRESIDENCY OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE AND HOW IT WILL OPERATE

However, the uMkhonto wSizwe (MK) Party which wouldhave a single seat on the 11-member committee has argued that the proposed composition undermines the purpose.

MP Carol Mafogane said a body dominated by the ruling coalition can’t be considered credible.

“We are further concerned by guidelines that require lengthy notice periods and [that] allows the president to defer matters. Oversight cannot operate on terms dictated by the executive.”

Build One South Africa (BOSA)’s Nobuntu Hlazo-Webster also had concerns about the body’s composition, but said her party would not withhold support for the committee’s establishment.

“We want to caution that if we design rules now around the present political configurations rather than Constitutional principles that have to endure, then we will weaken this very constitution in years to come.”

The ANC’s Cameron Dugmore hailed the establishment of the committee as collaboration at work and said the composition of the committee reflected the outcome of the ballot box.